klc14

For obvious reasons. I do it all the time, in fact, and I'm no longer a vegetarian. Probably the biggest reason for me to bow out of this increasingly ridiculous argument is that people seem to be perceiving me as an advocate for fast food, and as someone whose experience in restaurants lies primarily in fast food, and I am neither. As far as fries being put in the same fryer as meat, that comment holds true for the fast food, full service, upscale casual and fine dining restaurants where I've worked. Oh, sorry, I wasn't perceiving you as a fast food person, cooking or consuming -- your tag and site make it obvious your interests are in another direction. As far as the fries and fryers, a person who has NEVER worked in a restaurant or thought about it much, might not realize, was my point. Okay, that person would probably be a pretty naive, overly trusting person overall. mabelline is right, your site is great! Attractive and appealing.

Aw, come on, don't be like that, controversy is not evil if we all mind our manners. Everybody has been restrained and thoughtful while expressing their opinions in this thread, compared to some I've seen. (I hope I have, too). And it may be that people who have never SEEN a fast food restaurant or thought about how it works, would have no idea about the "one fryer fries all" thing. I worked (3 days) in a fast food restaurant that DID only fry potatoes in one vat. They did the fish in a different vat. However, that was years ago and they prob'ly do use one fryer now.

Pardon me for asking, and I know someone will probably get angry with me, but if it's important to your religious beliefs that you practice strict vegetarianism, why would you eat at McDonald's? I'd turn that around and ask, "Why would you refuse to eat at McD's if you are a vegetarian for religious reasons?" When the company has SAID they stopped using a particular product which did not comply with your beliefs? Can't you trust McDonald's? After all, they aren't Union Carbide! It's food, not chemicals! (hmmmm.....) Ethical vegetarians aren't against corporations necessarily. They have decided not to consume animal products (with the ovo-lacto exception, but that was not the case here). McD's claimed FALSELY that the food contained no animal products. But it did, albeit a different one ("natural flavoring" derived from animal products replacing beef tallow). You can be a vegetarian and still eat lousy. Potato chips are vegetarian, and so is soda pop. You might stop eating meat for health reasons and still partake on "feast days" such as Thanksgiving. (The McDougall Program allows that). But Hindus, as the example given, don't eat ANY meat. Used to work with a guy who was a Hindu; we would order out from Chili's, he'd get the vegetarian quesadilla and all the while he was eating, he'd be looking for that scrap of chicken they **invariably** put in there. They apparently couldn't get the concept of meat-free. And of course he had to stop eating it then. No chicken no problem, you know? We could all order from the same place. I think there was an aspect of the outrage in the Mccase that McDonald's is opening restaurants in India, where there are many many Hindus. The Indian Hindus as well as Indian-American Hindus, immigrants and visiting workers, and some ethical vegetarians were angry that McDonald's was not respecting their (not practiced at Hamburger U.) religious beliefs while claiming it did. And taking their money. If you are saying FAST FOOD = UNTRUSTWORTHY AT ANY PRICE, well....I won't argue that. But then why do all those non-vegetarians eat there? My $.50 on the matter (adjusted for inflation).

How about "BAM!" Fun at first. Now just annoying. But the audience seems to like it.

For one of the other Frug threads I was trying to remember what I learned from him. Like others have said , what it was, was to just get into the kitchen and be venturesome in cooking. Excellent, nourishing food need not be expensive or pretensious. And I remember the saying "Hot pan, cold oil, food won't stick!" I will remember his enthusiasm and his respect for other traditions and other cooks, like when he went to the Chinese market, and the ribs restaurant.

I agree about the specialty salts. We can taste salt, so you do want that taste in the combination. And for the cost, you might as well taste it up front. I haven't used Morton's iodized in so long, I forgot what it tastes like, but I think I did notice when I tasted Kosher that it was "gentler" to the taste buds than I remembered.... edited because I pushed Submit too soon.

Yeah, well, wait'll you hit 33 and THEN see what happens. Although if your family runs to slenderness, you might maintain your lithe frame. Envy raiseth its ugly head in this corner. However, for me, and for many people I know, 33 was the magic year when metabolism turned WAY down. Now, if you think about it, you're born, and you about double in mass (size, and tissue types) in a geometrical progression for the first three years. Then growth slows a bit. You are moving from infancy to childhood. 10 years later, 13 years old and puberty, although the change process may start earlier. 10 years later, twenty-three. Seems like you can eat whatever you want as long as you get your exercise. 10 years, thirty-three. The gaining years. It takes more planning and calculating to lose. Okay, today's crazy metabolism theory, but I think the 30-year clock should start ticking at three years of age. Gee, I think I need a snack.

Mine doesn't handle citrus peel too well, unless I chop them up a bit. Makes the kitchen smell nicer.... My mother's disposal "froze up" once and the maintenance man at her apt complex gave her 2 tips: 1. Pour some cooking oil (OIL only, not bacon grease!) down to lubricate it once in a while. 2. Take a long wooden spoon and put the handle down the drain and "stir" the little jagged thingys. Sometimes they get out of sync and hit each other. Then they get stuck. Hers was rather old as is mine. I used the cooking oil tip when mine froze up in my condo and it worked fine. Haven't had to "stir" it up yet. Also: if there is a slight but hideous odor in the kitchen and you've cleaned everything else, it's probably something that didn't get totally ground and washed away. You could try tossing in a few ice cubes, running cold water and turning it on to clean it out. I have reached down in the disposal area and pulled stuff out (above mentioned citrus peel; it just abraded them a tiny bit, they were still whole.) But I don't recommend this. Yuckiness. Don Aslett (housecleaning business, books, on Oprah, must know what he's talking about?) recommends filling sink with warm soapy water, unplugging, turning on disposal, to clean it. I do that once in a great while when I am super-cleaning the kitchen (to avoid doing something else).

Like watching a slow motion train wreck. Fascinating, even as you brace for the impact. And a good reminder to keep up with your tipping math....!

Oh, that explains why they weren't so shiny after I used the self-clean cycle. And I wonder where the manual is--I bought a condo with self cleaning oven and the previous owner kindly left the manuals (including the one for the microwave she took along). I've filed it in two different "Obvious" places and never find it when I want it. When I was in a group house I don't remember them taking the racks out when they cleaned the over but I don't remember whether those racks were actually shiny anymore (would be surprised if they were). Oh well. I haven't noticed roughness and pitting but haven't eyeballed the entire racks. How is it self-lubricating? Never mind, I guess that's why they slide in and out easily.

Once I went to dinner with a friend and her husband and he found a small roach clinging to a chunk of the crushed ice in his ice tea. Called the waitress, who apologized and then said, "We had the exterminator in today, they told us we might see more bugs coming out of the woodwork!" He got a new iced tea and they comped the drinks. We thought perhaps she could have left out the bit about the exterminator.

This looked funny from the start. Then there were so many little things wrong (a cow, with udder, referred to as HE! A moment of confusion as what that protrusion on the udder produces--that kind of thing) --quite ludicrously funny! Thanks for a few surreal cartoon minutes!

Just in time for D-Day! The shopping alone will require lots of logistical consideration: "Now, which side of the warehouse is the bottled water on THIS week?" "I wonder, are all these shrink packs going to FIT inside the Toyota?"

AHA. It may not have happened yet. I do like not having to buy TP for 2 years . I'm almost ready for another 30-pack! You really DO need the storage space and good car packing skills! I don't usually buy much meat but what I buy at Costco is very good. I usually manage to save enough to cover my membership cost in 6 months. Another good if small thing, when people collect canned goods for the needy (like the Postal Service last weekend), I usually have some recently-purchased extra cans of something to throw in!! If you go on a weeknight or EARLY on weekends, the checkout is not quite so bad. Except at Pentagon City you have to pay for parking weeknights if you don't drive out before 2 hours are up, clutching your receipt and parking stub. Saturdays parking's free--that's why Saturdays are such HELL--people driving along 5 mph behind people with a loaded cart, so they can get the parking space.

Wine cork craft, taken as literally as possible.... but maybe not cheap, unless you have a state's worth of wine drinking friends....

Has the birthday happened? There are some ground nut cake suggestions from the "Sound of Music Dinner" thread. look for ludja's post of Jan 15 2004, 10:20 AM . Suggestions like "Linzer Torte (torte w/ground hazelnut crust, perserves (red or black currant or raspberry), lattice crust on top and sliced almonds... Any ground nut cake (in which ground walnuts, hazelnuts or almonds are substituted for most of the flour) ... could be frosted with chocolate. Also "Palatchinken---Austrian/Hungarian Crepes filled w/various fillings---(currant jelly, walnut cream). Could use a standard crepe recipe and make them ahead. Jelly ones dusted w/confectioner's sugar; walnut cream ones drizzeled w/chocolate..." And there's also a link to an Austrian cake using 3 eggs, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup flour along with butter and chocolate. I don't know if that is low carb enough for your requirements but it does look RICH.

Uhm, maybe, but not always. Tried it a few years after I had flown the next. Jeez, I could hardly taste anything but SALT.

A friend went out there and was blown away by the cheese department, and then by the chocolate department. She had never seen anything like it. (Well, her previous favorite was Super WalMart in Winchester). She couldn't really see much of the rest of the store....

I'll second that. What I noticed most when I started shopping at Harris Teeter was the staff, they look you in the eye and speak directly to you. I was so used to the "wall of distrust" at Safeway and Giant it took me a couple of times to get used to it. But I don't find Harris Teeter to be that much different or even quite as good as from Whole Foods, either, another overpriced place. Both stores have the attitude of thinking a lot of themselves, if that makes sense...no, it doesn't. But they ARE usually pretty clean. Safeway, Giant: Pretty much the desperation destination. I haven't had the "rotten food" experiences recounted by others but I have either been A). really lucky or B). looked at everything over and over before I put it in basket--so, cheap or compulsive. Or with trust issues.

Costco is a warehouse store rather than a discount store; requires a membership to enter. Walmart--you just need to be ambulatory in some fashion. Costco doesn't necessarily carry more than one brand of anything, or they carry one brand and Kirkland version (their brand). They don't have as wide a selection of items as Walmart would, or as low prices. Some of the furniture I have seen there has been, um, rather dramatic, not seen anywhere else (leopard-spot fabric on a fainting couch, that sort of thing). Recliners-one style. Refrigerators, stoves, one color, one style. At Costco, size of food items or household cleaners, etc., are usually much bigger than you get in a discount store, or they are shrinkwrapped together, 8 or 10 or 12 cans or bottles (depending on what it is), or 180 ounces of dishwasher liquid in a bottle as opposed to 96 in grocery or Walmart stores. It's usually a case of, they have what's on the floor, and it usually costs much less than discount, drug or department stores, but not always. So you might pay $9.99 for two 40-ounce bottles of shampoo when at Walmart one 20-ounce bottle could cost you about $3. 12 cans of tuna for $9. Whatever you buy at Costco, prepare to have a LOT of it on hand. You need LOTS of storage if you shop at Costco much. Walmart might have lower prices but you won't be living with the stuff for months. If it's been reported that Costco gives food stamp info to employees when they are hired, I missed it. This HAS been reported of Walmart. They will hire retirees and people who might have trouble getting taken on elsewhere. If you are old and tired, you can work at walmart. If you are old and tired, Costco might consider that the work would be too strenuous for you. The Crowd: In the Walmarts I go to, there is usually a crying child or two as well as numerous kids running around being kids; long long lines at the checkout even for a few items. The customers tend to be poorer; sometimes they are ill-mannered and out for themselves, sometimes they are what you call decent working class people. Some of them keep after their children to behave, some seem to overlook most all misbehavior. Sometimes they are what you would call products of economically-advantaged backgrounds obviously stretching those entry-level-job dollars, except that now they go to Target. All races, many classes at Walmart. In the Costco's I go to the children are not usually at the crying stage yet, but they may be tired and a bit whiny. Their parents tend to keep after them to behave. The people tend to be either upper-middle classers getting bargains, middle-middle classers ganging up on someone's Costco card, or all sorts immigrants buying for a crowd (DC area, and Reston, VA area). You don't see many obviously poor people but you do see people with a lot of money to spend at one time. Until one gets the hang of it, it's hard to get out without spending less than $100. Elyse has mentioned somewhere that she can, I have spent $23 dollars on one trip in one month. You just have to not pick up every bargain. Possible cheap shot: Costco has not, to my knowledge, had video footage from a surveillance camera used to trace a missing child. Not Walmart's fault that someone with evil intent might go there, but you don't have to be the sort that thinks ahead to consequences to go there. At Costco you have to sort of be thinking ahead--like, where are you gonna put all this stuff when you finally unload the SUV! You pony up $45 to be a member and then you need to either buy a lot or shop there a lot to make back the cost plus savings, unless you don't care that much about it. As mentioned you may need to have the kind of income where you can take a big hit on food which will be eaten in a short time. I don't think Costco necessarily puts a lot of other businesses out of business. Their employees may seem rather rushed on Saturdays at 3 pm but usually are rather pleasant. Walmart--it's iffy. Some of them come to work tired. The produce at Costco is very fresh, the meat can be good, although much depends on how "choicey" you are. They have all kinds of ready-to-heat stuff, all kinds of prepared food in the freezer case. Plus they sell cakes that are VERY good (well, okay, they have Crisco icing on top and buttercream between layers but the cake part is good too.). They sell rather large cheesecakes and a very good pumpkin cheesecake, in season. They sell very good bread, and cookies and muffins that (ahem) go very fast at bake sales! They have the "wonder bread" style stuff available, and Roman Meal too but they also have more robust bakery-style bread. Oh, and huge bags of chips, and lots of beer and wine. Walmart in our area doesn't do beer and wine. Okay, maybe 36 eggs for 3.97 is still too many eggs. At Walmart last time I looked, 18 eggs for 1.97. Plus the rather worn and frazzled look of clerks and customers alike, all the time. Usually Costco-ites don't frazzle much till closing time, or on Saturday afternoon. I don't know a whole lot about Super Walmart, my Florida relatives shopped there a year ago but on my last visit they had taken against Walmart for some reason. Prices were low (the main reason) and there was a great variety of stuff. It was sort of like Target with a grocery tacked on. Then, this past winter, Walmart was on the s**t list. Had a friend who used to go to Super Wal Mart in Winchester, VA and loved it. Super cheap prices for the same stuff you get around metro DC. Of course gasoline was $.25 a gallon cheaper out there too, soo... Gee. Maybe I love Costco too much.....

Sleepy_Dragon Posted: Apr 13 2004, 07:46 PM

I hope this means to let the batter stand 15 minutes, make crepes using 2 T batter, finished crepes freeze well. At first I thought, why would you freeze 2 T of batter. Then I reread it. OH! Thanks for the tip on how the different fillings affect the result. This looks very worth the time which it must be if you continue to try and get it right. And if you get a friend to help assemble, a good time in the kitchen. Hope Paula will be able to make it this summer!

Actually, a lot of classic Eastern European (Austrian, Hungarian, etc.) cake recipes use breadcrumbs and/or nut flours instead of wheat flour. And they often contain chocolate. If made well, they can be incredibly delicious. And yeah, they tend to be stacked in layers. Why, silly me, I'm sure they do. What are some of their names? I was more thinking (incoherently) that a person looking for a low carb cake would be able to find a flourless cake in a cookbook somewhere. (I still have these lingering pre-Google thought patterns).

I salute you for being willing to try ANY POSSIBLE METHOD...

At first glance it does seem to go against every known precept of cake....except....a friend had a recipe (from either Joy of Cooking, or a Mollie Katzen cookbook) that required almonds and dates, I think--I'm sure about the almond. and it made a flat moist one layer cake although if you wanted I suppose you could make two and stack and so forth...... it was very good and she made it often for dieting friends. A food processor was necessary to grind up the almonds, and then you mixed in the dates. (Of course in those days I didn't recognize as dessert anything that had no chocolate).